Smart Moves: Your Guide Through the Emotional Maze of Relocation [Paperback]

Audrey T. McCollum (Author), Nadia Jensen (Author), Stuart Copans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1996 | ISBN-10: 1575250799 | ISBN-13: 978-1575250793

Every year in the United States 40 million people underttake an activity that will traumatize most of them. Can you guess what that activity is? Moving. This trauma is avoidable. Relocation is a crisis situation. Smart Moves clearly presents the dangers and problems of moving and provides tactical solutions. Smart Moves will prepare the mover for the emotional consequences of the impending separation from familiar support systems; it is a guide to clarifying roles, developing new roles and relationships, and strengthening ties to loved ones.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This book is aimed at helping the millions of Americans who move each year, whether because they want to or because they have to for work or family reasons. In either case, McCollum (The Trauma of Moving, Sage, 1990) and her coauthors believe the moves will be traumatic for the people involved. In contrast with guides that offer statistical information about destination cities, the authors here offer ideas and exercises to help each person prepare for the devastating experience of moving. Unfortunately, people who are worried and/or unhappy about their move will probably be even more unhappy after reading this book. Furthermore, the authors seem to believe that people who are excited and happy are probably just hiding their true feelings. Smart Moves does offer some good suggestions: activities for young children during packing and unpacking, lists of people to contact when visiting the new town and on first arrival. For these sections, and for patrons concerned about trauma, this book would make a good addition to any substantial collection of books on moving. Libraries that have no other books on moving that could offset this work's gloomy perspective would be best to stock standard guides before buying this work.?Elizabeth Caulfield Felt, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575250799
• ISBN-13: 978-1575250793
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My moving bible, December 8, 1999

By 

Rebecca Bliss (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smart Moves: Your Guide Through the Emotional Maze of Relocation (Paperback)

This book was recommended to me as my husband and I were embarking on a move that was VERY difficult for me. Both of us read it from cover to cover, and have gone back to it....for me to remember I'm not the only one who has had these adjustment problems, and for him to see how he can better support me and get acclimated himself. The book covers every conceivable topic about the personal and emotional transitions that accompany a move, and was easy to read and enormously helpful. Make sure you pick up a copy if you or anyone else you know is making a big move!

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book deals with the emotional aspects of relocation, January 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Smart Moves: Your Guide Through the Emotional Maze of Relocation (Paperback)

As a co-author of this book I am obviously somewhat prejudiced, but thought potential readers might be interested in the book's origins. In the process of writing a chapter on the effects of relocation on children (available in the Handbook of Child Psychiatry, Vol 4 from J. Wiley)I was struck with the difficulty many children experienced following a move, and with the lack of resources available to help adults or children deal with the stresses of relocation. Some of the best research on the effects of relocation on adults had been done by Audrey McCollum, and so I contacted her and we began to work on a book that could help both individuals and families better prepare for and deal with the stresses of relocation. Nadia Jensen, with a doctorate in early childhook education, joined us to help focus on the needs of young children and on issues related to schools. As a cartoonist, and coauthor of several workbooks, I very much wanted to include cartoons to help lighten the mood and worksheets to help people carry out specific assignments in the process of preparing for their move. As a superb writer and storyteller, Audrey argued for an uninterupted text. Our compromise was to put a cartoon at the beginning of each chapter, and worksheets at the end of each chapter. If you buy this book, I would love to hear from you what you found most helpful in it and what you think we should change in the next edition. Good luck with your move. Stu Copans

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Smart Moves only for some people, April 12, 2007

By 

K. Kane "Kathy" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Smart Moves: Your Guide Through the Emotional Maze of Relocation (Paperback)

This book is written for married couples with children considering a move -- particularly those who are relocating for employment reasons. Every chapter addresses 'his' needs and 'her' needs, making decisions as a couple, moving, adjusting, etc. There is a small amount of information for people making moves related to retirement. But if you are single or a single parent and moving (including the 51% of women in this country who are unmarried), this book will not address your needs or concerns.

For those looking for a 'guide through the emotional maze of relocation,' this focuses only on the negative emotions that may arise with relocating. I expected that the 'emotional maze' would provide a more even-handed discussion of all of the emotions surrounding relocating, positive as well as negative, benefits to be gained as well as the emotional costs of moving. But this focuses on the stress, anxiety and loss related to moving and misses the opportunity to explore the excitement, discovery, and rewards that can also accompany a move. Disappointing overall.